Running Sperry Glacier

The Ridge Run is now behind me. The intensive training is over. It’s time to use all this fitness I’ve earned and play. I’ve gotten out for one big day post-Ridge Run, more adventures are planned.

Terry and I spent 5 days in Glacier Park. I did a few shorter runs, but Saturday (8/26/2023), starting at Lake McDonald Lodge I ran the 18.6 mile out-and-back to Sperry Glacier while climbing 5,300 vertical. It was a beautiful morning; cool, clear, and only the lightest smoky haze. This long run follows Sprague Creek through a burned forest deep into the drainage and approaches Sperry Chalet. I got a great shot of the Chalet sitting atop a wall of rock on the approach, then bypassed it and headed to Comeau Pass.

Above the chalet, the trail winds through faces of red rock. Waterfalls jump over the cliffs, water flows down from ponds, lakes and the last snowfields high above.

The last section of trail to the pass is blasted into the rockface. Steps were formed, some directly from careful blasting, others reconstructed from chunks pasted in with concrete. It amazed me that workers, possibly the CCC, brought cement bags and mixing gear all the way up here. I was amazed, but thankful.

Once up top the scene is stunningly beautiful, but also somewhat depressing. The awe inspiring peaks of Glacier Park fill the scene. I met a couple up there. We stood identifying the peaks we could name, then made our way to the glacier viewpoint by crossing undulating bands of glacially smoothed red rock that until recently were covered in ice, probably 100 or more feet thick in most places. We followed a cairn trail for a full half-mile to finally view the glacier.

Huk and I climbed Bearhat Mountain back in the mid-1990s. Bearhat is one of the closest mountains to the glacier, and it has a great view of the glacier from the top. Back then, the glacier filled the whole basin we were hiking through. It left Huk and I in awe. It made me want to make my way here. It took me too long. Shards of the glacier are nestled in north facing nooks and crannies. The main body of the glacier is just a remnant of what Huk and I saw in the not-too-distant past. A panorama I took best captured its diminisment.

I made my way back to the pass and sat down to eat my first bites of food since starting out. I’d been here two years earlier. I had stopped at the pass that time, not realizing then that glacial remnants even existed. The hike I had just done made the loss of the glacier is more depressing as I realized just how big the basin was that Sperry only recently filled. So much was already lost, and final remnants would soon be gone.

As I sat there, I saw two hikers start to make their way up Mt Edwards, the base of which was only about 100 feet from where I was sitting. I looked at the line up Edwards, it looked surprisingly climbable. The peaks in Glacier are notoriously steep with lots of loose rock. This had a few difficult looking spots up near the peak, but overall it looked like it would go. If I get to make a third journey here, that will be my objective.

Mt Edwards